Yesterday,the story was aboutpeople - - crowds at the annualYard Sale where I purchased this dignifiedbird, my friend Larry, who gave me these violets,and Elmer, from whom we purchasedthese River Birch trees over a ​decade ago.

Larry's Violets & Elmer's River Birch Photo by ERSwett

And thenthere's dandelions,showing up in random places,a pesky weed for some, but a cheerfulharbinger of health for others.It's all about the narrativewe choose.

Proud Dandelion, 2020 Photo by ERSwett

Thedandelionat the foot ofa tree, shaded bydaffodils feels differentfrom the dandelion blowingin the wind on a grassy hillside at the​landfill.

Landfill Landscape May 2020 Photo by ERSwett

And thehawk soaringabove that same landfillinspires a different kind of reverencethan do robins diggingin my yard.

Hawk at the Lebanon Landfill, May 2020 Photo by ERSwett

I lovehow even whenalone in the garden or on ahillside in an industrial part of town, Iam with others, part of a narrative that transcendsthe weather on a single day or my stateof mind in a givenmoment.

Daffodils & Largeflower Bellwort Photo by ERSwett

Please.May I find hopein a time of trouble. Thank you for the gifts that emerge. Forgetme not. The world is sweet, even though itcan be hard to focus & things feelblurry when people & plantstry to share space. It'spossible, ​though.So much is​possible.

It seems absurd,really, that a gal has totake care of things at homeeven when there are so many coolthings happening, at, say,her first solo show.

But autumndoes come to an end,and snow does appear and thetemperatures do start to fall,so one does have totake care of​things.

It's funny, though,how the list evolves overtime. Just as one thing is finallycrossed off, another activity or two orthree gets added on, like mulchon the garden and those perennials that keepcoming back...

I love,though, how Isave my favorite activityfor last - - shredding leaves touse in the compost in the spring whenthings are wet and need a boostof dry carbon. It's athing for me.

Calvinjoins in thefun, begging meto throw him sticks whileI methodically mow the leavesin the still, dry garage. Spread them out,consolidate, spread again. Back and forth I helpbreak them down so they can moreefficiently integrate with all thatnitrogen in the melting,early springcompost.

It hit me,though, as the pile got smaller, thatthis is another one of thoseroutines I do all the time that is,on the one hand, just another item onthe endless list, but on the other hand, is anintegral part of a bigger climate action narrative, astory in which I find joy in routines that feelgood unto themselves but are alsopart of a larger creative​vision.

Like how I canshare photographsof a previous year's leaveson the wall of a gallery and by doingso inspire others to think differently aboutleaves, carbon and our​material world.

I wasin a great moodbecause I had set the day asideto work on a major embroidery projectI'm exploring thissummer.

Today's Project. Photograph by ERSwett 2019

But lifekept getting in the way.You know how it can be - managing thecompost, changing toilet-paper rolls, drinking waterto stay hydrated on a hot day, cleaning upafter the dog made ​a mistake...and, of course, doingthe ​laundry.

I think I wasable to finish abouthalf a leaf between eachinterruption. By the time I wentout to hang the laundry, I was feeling really frustrated by how slow my progress was.I'd been feeling bad about other things too. Like the factI hadn't written a blog post for more than a month and that I hadn't finishedthe next playbookin my series. ​

Re-imagining old clothes

But while standingon the terrace and hearing thebaby birds and seeing a monarch butterflyhead toward the volunteer milkweed in the orchardwe planted, I remembered that not long ago,none of this was here: no terrace, solarpanels, shrubs or perennials, andno monarchs or baby birds​learning to sing.

A Blank Canvas - Our Yard, 2004

I also rememberedhow exciting it was to seethese peonies and iris bloom togetherafter we had transplanted them that first yearwith the terrace garden - thatwas 8 years ago.

We're Here! Peonies & Iris, 2012

Some daysI have to remind myselfthat over time, lots of little actionsaccumulate and become something largerthan themselves. A single stone becomes a terrace. Asingle flower becomes a garden. A singlestitch in a small leaf becomes are-imagineddress.

Coming to Life. Photograph by ERSwett 2019

Sometimes I​just have to consciouslyremember how things really work,which is why when I dumped the compost andtook yet another photograph, I remembered the power ofshowing up and of big little things. 10 pounds of compost a weekadds up to 500 pounds a year -- a ton over four years. That's a lot of food diverted from the landfill.It's also a lot of photographscelebrating its​beauty.

Grocery List Photograph by ERSwett (At AVA this summer)

So this weekI'm celebrating Big LittleThings. Like the fact that after creatingthousands of Compost Compositions, I finally havetwo in a juried show this summer and I'll have a few dozen ina solo show this fall - - All at AVA Gallery in Lebanon,NH. Friends told me that if I kept showing​up for my work and for myself,cool things would happen.They were right.They are.

Corn Husks & Red Onion Photograph By ERSwett (In solo show this fall)

Who knew the simple climateaction of composting wouldlead me to become a photographer?Who knew that photographing that compostcould lead to learning about embroidery and the craftof remaking old clothes? Who knew that theact of remaking old things wouldinspire new ways of thinkingand new waysof being?

Hemming the dress. Photograph by ERSwett

How areyou celebratingthe Big Little Thingsin your day or your week? Remember: When you show up foryourself and those you love, cool things can​happen.

Monday Morning's Activities (not listed above):Writing & mailing post cards to daughter and mother-in-law;Emptying the dehumidifier in my basement studio;Packing up some college supplies for a friend, who happens to be passing through, to take down to DC so that we won't have so much to manage in August when our son goes to college there;Managing a broken nail that I got while packing those supplies;Receiving a packet of pachysandra from a neighbor with whom I had just spoken during my morning walk - - She mentioned she had more pachysandra than she needed; I mentioned I could use some. I thought the plan was for me to go over and harvest it. What a gift!And it all happened between 9am and 1pm.

Who knew trees could be so tricky? When looking for shade in a parking lot, I head for the trees. When seeking a place to hang a hammock, I look for trees. When wandering in the woods, I revel in the play of light through the leaves and branches. Trees, and the forests they inhabit, truly are the lungs of the earth. They absorb our poisons and release the oxygen we need to breath. Why then, given this reverence, would I advocate cutting them down in order to install solar panels?

To be clear, I love trees. I also love moving toward a 100% renewable future. If cutting trees allows me to reduce my personal and our collective dependence on toxic fuels, then it's something I am willing to consider, ​just as I am willing to consider altering mountain or ocean views in order to promote wind power (that's a different conversation). The fact is, I knew nothing about carbon sequestration when we cut dozens of trees to clear a view and to make room for more sun in 2004. It never occurred to me to do a cost-benefit analysis because I didn't know there was a choice. I loved trees from a distance, but hadn't really paid close attention to them.

Our goals were to create a soccer field for the kids, a vegetable garden, and a beautiful near and distant view. It's been almost 15 years and a lot has changed. We've planted a River Birch 'glen,' a bird-friendly hillside and a rain garden. We've installed solar panels and have a great lawn for all manner of sports. Each year, however, I become more and more curious about the trade-offs we made in order to create our own private Eden.

So here's what I've learned. On the most basic level, it's easy to plant new trees that serve multiple purposes but that won't block the sun. Fruit and nut trees, for example, absorb carbon and produce food. Flowering trees of all kinds provide nectar for pollinators and berries for birds. By cutting down all those evergreens all those years ago, we made room for a significantly more diverse landscape the provides food for us and a host of flying creatures.

When I did some research, I learned the following about the tree-solar trade-off. It takes 1.106 lbs of Co2 to produce 1 kwh of electricity so if you install a 5,000 kwh system, that would avoid 5,530 lbs of Co2 emissions each year.

No two trees are the same: A 30 year old white oak absorbs 60 lbs of carbon a year; A white pine absorbs 193 lbs of carbon a year; A fast growing red oak can absorb 240 lbs of carbon a year. In Hanover and much of New England, we have a lot of white pines. 5,530 lbs/193 lbs = 28.65 trees.If you cut less than 28 trees to maximize your solar options, don’t feel guilty in terms of carbon absorption and avoidance - - If you are cutting white pines.

I'm a photographer who loves trees and light. I'm also a gardener who loves backyard biodiversity and a world free from fossil fuel dependence. In my quest for a sustainable future for my family, I am constantly making trade-offs. We needed shade for our terrace and planted a tree whose maximum height is 30 feet, just below our rooftop panels. I had wanted an elegant oak, but needed to compromise as oaks get too large and would shade our rooftop panels. Who knew we would now have more than 15 varieties of trees on our property where before we just had white pines and a few oaks?

In July, we considered electric lawn care and the many alternatives to gas-powered machines, including reducing the actual size of your lawn. This month, we continue the lawn care theme, but address it from the point of view of the trees and solar power. Both absorb the light. Both generate energy from that light. At the moment, however, we need to maximize the rate at which we transition to renewables. If that transition necessitates cutting some trees, I am willing to do so, especially if that creates more light for more diverse plantings and clean energy.

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